An adaptive cruise control system—sometimes called an autonomous, active or intelligent cruise control system—is similar to a traditional cruise control system, but uses additional sensing equipment to detect other objects, e.g., a target vehicle in front of, and in the same lane as, the host vehicle. For example, when a host vehicle operator sets the vehicle speed to 60 miles per hour (“mph”) under control of the adaptive cruise control system, and the host vehicle approaches a slower-moving target vehicle in the same driving lane, the adaptive cruise control system causes the vehicle to slow down. The adaptive cruise control system uses throttle and brake controls to first reduce the speed of the host vehicle, and then controls the speed of the host vehicle to maintain a particular distance between the host vehicle and the target vehicle. This distance (i.e., the gap) may be based on user selection, sensed weather conditions, sensed road conditions, and other factors. The adaptive cruise control system controls the speed of the host vehicle to be at the lesser of: 1) the speed necessary to maintain the gap; and 2) the user-set speed. Certain driving maneuvers, such as changing lanes, may affect the adaptive cruise control system's calculation of the host vehicle's speed. For example, as the vehicle operator executes a lane change by turning the steering wheel and changing the host vehicle's position, the vehicle sensors may detect that the previously tracked target vehicle no longer impedes the host vehicle's path, and thus, the adaptive cruise control system accelerates the host vehicle speed to reach the user-set speed. This acceleration, however, is not initiated until the target vehicle is no longer in the host vehicle's path trajectory. The delay in initiating the acceleration may cause an undesirable delay in executing and completing the lane change.